Self-Help in the Land of Denial (Mickey Z.)

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Mickey Z. -- World News Trust

Sept. 8, 1996 -- Legend has it that the song "Sexy Sadie" was written as a response to what the Beatles experienced while getting Zenny with their one-time guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Accusations of sexual indiscretions led to John Lennon and George Harrison dismissing the Maharishi as a fraud. Subsequently, Lennon wrote "Sexy Sadie," originally called, "Maharishi, Maharishi What Have You Done." Harrison, so the story goes, convinced Lennon to change the title... and years later, there is still much dispute over the veracity of the Beatles' charges against Maharishi. The tragic human need for gurus did not diminish after the Beatles' dalliance or the release of "Sexy Sadie."

"We do not naturally aspire to any hazy, narcotic Nirvana, where our critical and ironic faculties would be of no use to us," writes Christopher Hitchens. "Imagine a state of endless praise and gratitude and adoration, as the Testaments ceaselessly enjoin us to do, and you have conjured a world of hellish nullity and conformism.

Contrary to Hitchens' reality check, guru-mania has today reached epidemic proportions. If you don't believe me, check out the "self-help" section in any bookstore.

How privileged are we? How self-centered is the American book reader? The world's 587 billionaires are worth $1.9 trillion -- a total higher than the gross domestic product of the 170 poorest countries combined -- yet our bookshelves are creaking under the weight of innumerable books exhorting us to dwell in denial: if we all simply stayed positive, everything would be fine.

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